"Stranger Things" is one of the newest shows to premier on Netflix. A sci-fi horror drama set in the 1980s, "Stranger Things" was created by the Duffer Brothers and stars Winona Ryder, no stranger to the world of sci-fi herself. "Stranger Things" is one of the best things to come out of the power house of art and quality that is Netflix, and has certainly been a highlight of the summer.
"Stranger Things" is art worthy of, and certainly inspired by, some of Spielberg's best, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.," and "The Goonies." If you enjoyed the more recent J.J. Abrams-directed, Spielberg-produced film, "Super 8," you'll love this. The Duffer brothers captured the 1980s styling of the sci-fi horror genre spectacularly. As an avid film buff, and a lover of all things 1980s pop culture, this show was infallible to me.
"Stranger Things" is a show that I had no idea I wanted. Today horror and sci-fi are all about the "Paranormal Activity"-esque, the big budget ghost films, the "Purge" movies, the cheap, chainsaw horror. There is no subtle creepiness, no unsettling, slow burn art pieces sprinkled with classic rock and "Star Wars" references. The 80s truly were, in my opinion at least, the height of the sci-fi genre in film.
For all of you a little less obsessed with film history and culture out there, there is a lot left to love about "Stranger Things." The show is truly modeled after the 80s horror sci-fi film tradition, but it goes further, improving the genre through pacing, incredible writing, and two things the real 80s completely lacked (at least in popular film and television): diversity and feminism.
The show centers on a group of four best friends; Mike, Will, Dustin and Lucas. They are inseparable middle school boys, avid Dungeons & Dragons players, and all-around the most wonderful and varied group to watch. They all come from wildly different socio-economic backgrounds and each have incredibly well defined and colorful personalities. Lucas is black while the other three are white, and yet in a show set in the 18980s, race is never a factor in their friendship. It is never mentioned, not a whisper, there is no judgment, none of the boys seem aware of how people self-separate based upon race; they are just four boys who love each other. That is what really spoke to me, that the writers defined these children so well, they gave them voices, they showed us that children are in fact incredibly capable. So rarely in pop culture are children taken seriously and considered for their intellectual abilities, their capacity for kindness and friendship, or how they can be smarter, better and more progressive than most adults.
The wonderful, glorious feminism so pervasive in this show appears with our introduction to the most important character of them all, Eleven. Eleven is a young girl who escapes from a government facility and has the power to control things with her mind. She is a waif of a girl, with a shaved head and a baggy hospital gown, she certainly doesn't look like much, but she is the most powerful person in the show.
She was raised on pain and brutality, and yet she was able to trust, to learn from the boys about friendship and love, and able to use her powers to protect her new friends. Eleven represents the new era of well written and influential female characters. She had been controlled and manipulated her entire life, and once she freed herself, she was truly unstoppable. I watched with fear and awe as a little girl with no hair and a bloody nose flipped cars, made grown men quiver and ripped monsters to shreds, and I realized that she is the kind of female character I wish I had grown up watching. Eleven is someone I want future women to see, and I most certainly want to see more of her, both in coming seasons and in other forms of television and film with their own interpretations of strong female characters.
All in all, this show has given me a lot to think about. It has inspired me, entertained the childish 80s buff in me, but mostly it has given me a story to come back to and to hold dear. So if you know what is good for you, I recommend you pull up Netflix on your computer, get a friend's password or whatever you have to do, because you cannot miss out on this show.
